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SnapCall Sports Blog

Americans to Watch in Pyeongchang

January 26, 2018 by Michael Szego

With the Olympic games around the corner, and SnapCall Sports combining with SWX and THQ Sports to bring you coverage EACH AND EVERY NIGHT during the games, we wanted to start by giving you a beginner's guide to some of the Olympians that you may, or may not be familiar with. Some of these will become household names throughout February, so whether you want to to look educated at the water cooler, or just want to get a leg up before points are on the line in the Free-4-All, here are a few major stories that will be covered once the games get going:

◦ American Mikaela Shiffrin is the reigning gold medalist. She was just 18 when she won the gold, becoming the youngest athlete ever to win gold in slalom at the Winter Olympics. In addition Lindsay Vonn will return, and with plenty of racy comments in the press about the POTUS, she will have plenty of spotlight on her.

· Bobsled: Medal Events on 2/19, 2/21, 2/25

◦ The USA Women's Bobsled team won Silver in Sochi. Elana Meyers Taylor leads the way on the women's team, and the two-time Olympic medalist will be a big story this time around, as she has competed in the 4-man event as well, a first for the sport which previously only allowed women to race in two-person sleds.

◦ The Men's USA team also unfortunately lost Steven Holcomb, a multiple Olympic medal winner, who passed away in 2017.

· Curling: Medal Events on 2/13, 2/23, 2/24, 2/25

◦ USA has a decade long medal-drought in this event, and yet everyone seems to love this sport once the Winter games roll around. In addition, there is a new mixed-doubles event this year. A pair of siblings, Becca and Mat Hamilton will represent the US.

· Figure Skating: Medal Events on 2/12, 2/15, 2/17, 2/20, 2/23

◦ Nathan Chen is a rising star in the sport for the American side, becoming the first man in 8 years to win the ISU Grand Prix Final in Japan. He beat reigning Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu in competition earlier this year, so he's well on his way to competing for a singles medal this time around.

◦ The halfpipe and slopestyle events were new at the 2014 games, and the Americans had some medalists right off the bat. Gus Kenworthy is the biggest name to watch, earning a silver medal in Sochi. Since then, he came out as being gay in 2015, and could become the first openly gay male athlete to compete in a Winter Olympics.

· Ice Hockey: Medal Events on 2/21, 2/22, 2/24, 2/25

◦ With professional men's players not able to compete in Olympic action this time around, the women may take the spotlight. USA and rival Canada are gearing up for a gold medal match against one another after Canada bested the American side 3-2 in OT in Sochi.

◦ Shaun White will return for what could be his last Olympics. Another name to watch is Chloe Kim, 17, who was the first women to land back-to-back 1080s in competition last year, and sits atop the world rankings for the sport. She is a favorite to win gold in the halfpipe.

This is just a taste of the info you'll get when you log onto SnapCall Sports for Olympic coverage EVERY NIGHT from 2/9 through 2/25. We'll be live from 8:00pm ET through 11:00pm ET each night inbetween, so get your routine ready, and start to earn those points, because there just might be prizes waiting for our biggest winners!